The Voice - Match preview #35: Bradford City vs Leyton Orient Saturday 7th March 2026 3:00pm

EFL League One Fixture #35
Saturday 7th March 2026 15:00
Bradford City (4th) vs Leyton Orient (21st)
University of Bradford Stadium (AKA Valley Parade)

Record:
Games Won: 15
Games Drawn: 14
Games Lost: 20

Last 5:
28 Aug 2021: Leyton Orient 2 – 0 Bradford City
01 Feb 2022: Bradford City 1 – 1 Leyton Orient
03 Dec 2022: Leyton Orient 3 – 0 Bradford City
08 May 2023: Bradford City 1 – 1 Leyton Orient
20 Dec 2025: Leyton Orient 2 – 1 Bradford City

Leyton Orient:
Struggling Leyton Orient picked up their first away win since late November when they bested Northampton Town 2-1 at the Sixfields recently, Dom Ballard and James Morris grabbing the goals that ultimately rendered Tom Eaves’ strike for the Cobblers a mere consolation. That result ensures Leyton Orient sit above Northampton Town, though remain entrenched in the relegation zone and in serious threat of playing League Two football next campaign.

This past weekend, Orient got back to losing ways with a 3-1 defeat on home soil to Barnsley, meaning they have lost 5 of their last 7 League One fixtures in total, though they haven’t lost either of their last 2 games on the road having followed up a 0-0 draw at Stockport County with that win over Northampton. That brings them to this Saturday’s fixture at the University of Bradford Stadium off form, but with the slight caveat of having achieved 4 points from a possible 6 away from home.

That’s not to say Orient have been a particularly good away side this season, far from it. Sat in 21st place in the ‘Away’ league table, which is where the club sit in the overall League One table, it’s clear to see this has been a tough campaign for the O’s. 4 wins, 1 draw and a full 11 defeats outside of Brisbane Road and with a goal difference of -14 (19 scored, 33 conceded), Leyton Orient, like most sides, are much more comfortable at home. There, they even have a positive goal difference (+2) and have won as many games as they’ve lost (6 wins, 5 draws, 6 defeats), a run which saw them duly dispatch the Bantams back in December by 2-1. Both goals came courtesy of one of the division’s sharpest marksmen in Dom Ballard.

Ballard, who has bagged 16 league goals this campaign, is the joint second highest scorer in the division, tied with Jack Marriott – who was missing from the Reading side that beat City this past weekend – and trailing Kyle Wootton of Stockport County by a single goal. A much-admired talent, Ballard has shown City fans what he can do even in a struggling side, and plenty of eyes will be watching to see what he can do this Saturday at the University of Bradford Stadium. Ballard is, however, not on the very best of form, netting just once in his last seven outings, a dryer spell that City will hope extends beyond this coming weekend.

Outside of Dom Ballard, Aaron Connolly has bagged 8 league goals this season, a considerable number from the former Brighton, Hull, Sunderland and Millwall man. The Irishman looks set for a personal best campaign, having previously matched that 8-goal return with Hull City in the Championship back in 23/24. Beyond those two, Idris El Mizouni has netted 4 times, though the talented Tunisian international hasn’t been seen since November after picking up an injury. Josh Koroma and Ollie O’Neill have 3 goals apiece.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a Richie Wellens team, Leyton Orient punch above their weight on two other fronts besides having one of the top scorers in the division. Sat 8th in the ‘Possession’ league table and 14th in the xG league table, Leyton Orient are comfortable on the ball and better at creating chances than their lowly league position belies. Their biggest weakness is their poor defensive record away from home, something the Bantams simply must exploit. Only Wigan Athletic have conceded more goals than Leyton Orient away from home this campaign.

Leyton Orient 1 – 3 Barnsley


Northampton Town 1 – 2 Leyton Orient


Bradford City:
Bradford City’s late collapse at Reading continued the perfect dichotomy between home and away results, extending their “win all home games, lose all away games” form to 9 straight games. It’s an astonishing sequence of results, one that has left Graham Alexander scratching his head, and (potentially, at times) over-thinking things. There were fewer contentious choices in the starting XI made by Alexander this time round when compared to the AFC Wimbledon debacle, with a largely full strength line up. Ethan Wheatley was the only eyebrow-raising selection as he stepped in ahead of the on-song Stephen Humphrys and Wrexham loanee Paul Mullin to replace the injured Kayden Jackson, but the Manchester United man got a good 65 minutes before being withdrawn – with the Bantams yet to score. That changed just 3 minutes later, when Matthew Pennington made it 2 goals in 2 games with a thumping strike.

It wouldn’t last, however. Paddy Lane, who had only been on the field a matter of minutes, grabbed a 90th minute leveller, before fellow sub and Premier League veteran Matt Ritchie grabbed his first Reading goal to seal the points. It was a gut punch for City, and one that reduced a potential 13-point gap on their playoff rivals to just 7. It all changed as quickly as that.

Now City must pick themselves back up, but what better place to do so than Valley Parade? For whatever reason, City simply look like a completely different team here, rarely dropping points and often looking quite comfortable – especially defensively, and even more so at the tail end of games. That was why it was such a surprise to see net twice (in the 90th and 90+7th minute) given how capable City have looked at seeing out games.

Graham Alexander must once again try to pick his most capable team even in the middle of a hectic run of games, and there has at least been some acknowledgement that he’s made too many changes at times. May the good times at home continue to roll, though, and City really need to rack up at least a couple of goals against a very poor away defence – even if they don’t have an on-form striker.

Reading 2 – 1 Bradford City


Bradford City 1 – 0 Rotherham United


Prediction:
2 of David McGoldrick’s goals for Barnsley in the 3-1 win at Brisbane Road recently stemmed from unforced defensive errors, underlining an uncomfortable fact for the O’s that if you’re an on-form forward playing against Leyton Orient, you’re probably going to get chances to score. A quick glance back at some of the players that have netted against Leyton Orient since the turn of the year uncovers a series of names that are key threats for all of their teams (with their goal tally this season alongside them): McGoldrick (12), Eaves (8), Pepple (9), Bailey (11), Burstow (10), Marriott (15), Salech (12), Browne (12). That’s 8 separate players all listed in the division’s top 25 goalscorers that have netted against Orient in just 10 games. The obvious omission is Kyle Wootton of Stockport County who failed to score in a 0-0 draw on February 7th.

If that trend were to continue, which one suspects it might, then players like Antoni Sarcevic (8) and Bobby Pointon (8) might be worth a quid to score anytime, though I think it potentially puts the pressure on Graham Alexander to field his most effective centre forward, which is something he doesn’t appear to have worked out just yet. Ethan Wheatley is a decent worker and a willing runner, but has spurned multiple opportunities already, perhaps outlining why the young forward’s goal return rate is so poor. None of Paul Mullin, Stephen Humphrys and Will Swan seem favoured, and in truth have struggled when fielded. That’s the polar opposite for most Richie Wellens teams, who seem to lean very heavily on a particular forward for many of their goals – it’s not just Ballard here at Leyton Orient, Wellens has achieved similar results with the likes of Eoin Doyle (Swindon Town) and Ian Henderson (Salford City), suggesting he is a striker’s ideal manager.

How will Bradford City take advantage of Leyton Orient’s poor defensive record away from home, then? Well, potentially through those attacking midfield outlets if, ideally, he can field both Sarcevic and Pointon – though it’s worth noting that Humphrys (6) was the man that opened the scoring in the away fixture, and with his pace and athleticism, he might be the most sensible selection for this one. It’s far from certain that Alexander will go that way, however.

If he doesn’t play the percentages by fielding his most potent forward, then, City will instead have to lean on their excellent home record which has reduced many other narratives to inconsequence this season, including form. City’s away form continues to be extremely poor, but with no effect on their rampant run in front of the Valley Parade crowd. I would suspect that continues either way here, and so the pick will be a 2-0 home win with Ballard buzzing around and potentially grabbing yet another goal for himself, but if the newly-masked Aden Baldwin is fit and able to play, I feel City’s excellent defensive record at home might be able to hold out. Ballard isn’t exactly on a barren spell, but it’s not his best form this season, so I’ll back City for another clean sheet.

Final Score:
Bradford City 2 – 0 Leyton Orient